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| Room for all, but you have to have an FTL drive and capable pilot. |
Science fiction romance is a big spaceport. We have berths
for all kinds of vehicles from space operas set in the wide galaxy to
hearth-and-homes set here on Earth, mad scientists to alien slavers, utopias to
dystopias, cyborgs to purple people-eaters. There’s no wonder we have such
trouble defining who we are, what it is we’re writing and who we hope will read
it. (If you are a member of the Science Fiction Romance Brigade and follow the
Brigade on Facebook, you know we’ve been rehashing these old questions of
definition again lately.)
Writers of paranormal romance have no trouble saying their
stories must have an element of the supernatural along with a happy ending for
the hero and heroine. Likewise, historical romance writers will gladly tell you
one of their novels had better have an historical setting and an HEA. But if
you had five SFR writers in a room, you would undoubtedly get 25 different
answers to the question of what makes for a good SFR story.
Let me start a no-doubt rousing discussion by offering the five things I MUST have in any science fiction romance story
to keep me happily reading.
--A hero and a heroine who are
equals. A story may be written from anyone’s point of view—the hero’s, the
heroine’s, even someone else’s—but in a romance,
the hero and the heroine should find a balance in the story. If the heroine is
constantly getting into trouble only to have the hero rescue her, or, conversely,
is undertaking all the action only to have the hero hanging out waiting to,
ahem, service her, then things are out of balance. From a writer’s perspective
that often (but not always) means you have to write from both POVs, which
makes things harder, but provides more balance in the story. No matter who tells
the story, both partners should have talents, skills and qualities that come to
bear on the external problems they face.
--A Happy Ever After or Happy For
Now ending. This is my Number One requirement for a successful science
fiction romance. And, in fact, I want the whole romantic arc: Boy meets Girl
(or Boy or Alien Being, your choice), Boy Gets Girl, Boy Loses Girl, Boy Gets
Girl Back, Happy Ever After. Within that larger structure there are other
well-defined moments: the meet, the declaration, the black moment, resolution. Romance readers (and I’m one
of them) have been trained through years of reading experience to recognize
those signposts on the road to true love. If they don’t see them, they grow,
first, anxious, then frustrated. Deny them the HEA and you have a
riot on your hands. This was supposed to
be a romance, wasn’t it? What the . . .! If, for some reason, you can’t bring yourself
to write that happy ending, then please don’t market your story as a romance.
It’s a story with romantic elements, or a love story set in the future or a
friends-with-benefits-in-space story, but, by
definition it is not a romance. Save your book being thrown across the room
when a romance reader gets to the end and finds the lovers don’t end up
together, as I recently did with an otherwise excellent book marketed as SFR.
--A great central idea or theme. This
is the key to the SF part of SFR. To me, memorable science fiction always
starts with an idea, something simple, yet so evocative it fires the
imagination: terraforming Mars; alternate universes; sentient ships;
interstellar slavers vs. an organization of abolitionists. This idea can be
tied to a central theme—love as a unifying or healing force, for example—to give
it even more narrative power. Without the Big Idea, however, or at least an
interesting concept, a “science fiction” story is simply one set in the future,
or in space, or with aliens. It’s a “futuristic” novel—not a bad thing, just a
different thing, with a different marketing angle.
--Convincing, but judicious,
worldbuilding. Nothing is more fun than being immersed in a totally new
world of an author’s creation, being swept away by a sense of an “alternate
reality.” But a little description goes a long way, especially in SFR. I
appreciate knowing that we used an ion drive to get here, but the details of
how it works are of no interest to me. Worldbuilding details are like spices in
cooking. Not enough and the dish is bland; too much and it’s inedible. The
amount of worldbuilding detail has an impact on marketing, too, and relates to
the expectations of the reading audience. A futuristic novel would have much
less detail (and a less demanding audience); a straight science fiction novel
would have a LOT of detail (for a very demanding audience). An SFR novel, for
me, would provide a balanced taste of the author’s world.
--And, last but by no means least, a
compelling tale. Make it fresh. If it’s complex, find a way to make it
easy to follow. Make it surprising and emotional and grip-me-by-the-throat
thrilling! I read a lot. I’m not the only one. I will skip the stories whose
blurbs promise nothing more than yet another “she was stolen . . . and now she
must choose . . . ,” but I hate it when I find myself bored in the middle of a
story with a promising premise. Use all your writer’s tricks to keep me
reading—pacing, snappy dialogue, varied sentence structure, great characters,
an unexpected plot twist and, yes, a sharp turn of phrase. If I keep reading,
then others will, too.
Of course, all of these must-haves assumes the author already
has the basics of good writing well in hand. Did I say this was easy? No, and
it shouldn’t be. Not everyone has what it takes to rise above the sea of
competition out there and be truly exceptional. But our genre is no longer in
its infancy. It’s time for us to grow beyond baby steps and take bigger
strides. We’ve been playing in our own little yard long enough. To do that we need the confidence of knowing who and what we are.
Cheers,
Donna
